Whistle Suggestions

Travis · Post by **Travis** » Wed Jul 02, 2003 6:14 am

Everyone,

I would like to ask for everyone's opinion about which whistle I should get to satisfy the below listed requirements:

- High D
- Metal
- Sweet tone with a "bit" of chiff
- Low breath requirement
- Low to moderate back pressure
- Not shill
- Not very loud (90% of playing is solo and indoors)
- Easy transition between octaves

Cost is not an issue, though I expect to see a range of suggestions (i.e., Clarke to Copeland). For those respondents with a severe case of WHOA, please limit your suggestions to 1 or 2 choices.

As always, I truly appreciate everyone's assistance.

Travis

burnsbyrne · Post by **burnsbyrne** » Wed Jul 02, 2003 6:25 am

The answer is in your question - Sweetone.
Mike

slowair · Post by **slowair** » Wed Jul 02, 2003 6:40 am

Only one whistle that I know of that fits that description....

A Sindt.

Of course, I only have limited experience with whistles and have only tried Generation, Oak, Acorn, Walton, Busman and Burke.

After I got the Sindt, I pretty much stopped looking.

Yeah, get on the list, you want a Sindt.

Good luck.

Mike

blackhawk · Post by **blackhawk** » Wed Jul 02, 2003 6:59 am

Sweetone. You probably don't want to wait the 8 months for a Sindt.

Bretton · Post by **Bretton** » Wed Jul 02, 2003 7:21 am

Have you tried an Oak? Oak's aren't much for back pressure, but aside from that they fit your description. For a bit more $$ one of the old style Burke wide-bore brass whistles would also be good (very sweet).

-Brett

peeplj · Post by **peeplj** » Wed Jul 02, 2003 7:40 am

I would second the opinion to try an Oak. To me, they fit your description pretty much exactly. One thing to be aware of: my Oak's tone gets very sweet and pure once it's warm, which takes about 10 minutes of play. Until then, the sound isn't quite so pure.

You might also try an Acorn--they aren't quite as sweet as an Oak but they are also a little less prone to squeak if played cold.

Also for a little more money I would say a Serpent D fits your description nicely.

--James

JessieK · Post by **JessieK** » Wed Jul 02, 2003 8:23 am

In my opinion, the whistle that best fits all of your requirements is a Reyburn High D-LB.

- High D
- Metal
- Sweet tone with a "bit" of chiff
- Low breath requirement
- Low to moderate back pressure
- Not shill
- Not very loud (90% of playing is solo and indoors)
- Easy transition between octaves

Here's a link to a review I wrote of this whistle...

http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php ... ht=reyburn

~Jessie

PhilO · Post by **PhilO** » Wed Jul 02, 2003 8:36 am

I'm not going to get into the chiff, sweet, etc. tone stuff because it's too subjective and you need to hear the whistles for yourself. That said, and inferring from your words that you're looking to go up a notch in quality of craftsmanship (if not necessarily sound) and want one that is not too loud:

Burke Al-pro, Sindt, and Parkhurst would all do well.
Never played a Hoover, but lots of good feedback on those; I'm expecting a Hoover whitecap shortly, but I think that's PVC. If you consider plastic, I'll let you know how it is; they are very reasonably priced. The Parkhurst is heavy copper and very durable (and nice looking), not loud and also reasonably priced. The Al-pro (aluminum) is ethereally light and has a very nice tone (sweet, no chiff?); an easy player.

If you consider plastic, also be aware that Abell makes a wonderful Delrin whistle - beautiful and second only to my Copeland nickel; however, it is very much more expensive than the others, as is the Copeland.

Philo

Be aware that the loudness thing cancels out what IMHO is the very best soprano D on the planet, Copeland. Also cancels out the wonderful Overton.

pthouron · Post by **pthouron** » Wed Jul 02, 2003 8:43 am

I recently got a "practice D" from Stacey at Alba. It pretty much fits your description. In addition, it was designed to be quieter (hence the "practice"). You can order from Stacey direct (it is not available yet on her website). The whistle is around $50.00, depending on the exchange.

You can see a review and pictures of the whistle at:

http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php ... atty+kathy

P.

Ridseard · Post by **Ridseard** » Wed Jul 02, 2003 8:55 am

The O'Briain Improved D satisfies your requirements, Travis.

ChristianRo · Post by **ChristianRo** » Wed Jul 02, 2003 9:06 am

Paul Hayward now offers a narrow bore version of his legendary, fantastic Silkstone Alloy Soprano D. Alas, it is quite a pure whistle.

Christian

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Wed Jul 02, 2003 9:06 am

Of the dozen or so high Ds I own or have owned, most of them high end, the Sindt easily comes closest to fulfilling your criteria exactly.

Burke and Sweetone come close but lack chiff, however you want to define it. Overton and Copeland are great whistles but not at all what you are looking for. Abell and Busman both fit the bill in most respects but are made of wood not metal.

For a medium priced whistle that's great value and fairly close, you could try a Syn. The market is very crowded with high-end high Ds. Probably several whistles come very close to your requirements and only you would be able to choose between them. Of those I have no first hand experience of, Parkhurst, Reyburn, Elfsong and Hoover would all seem to be worth investigating.

JessieK · Post by **JessieK** » Wed Jul 02, 2003 9:14 am

A Syn is very loud and a Sindt is very pure. My goodness...can someone tell me the current accepted definition of "chiff" - I take it to mean "breathiness" and soom of you seem to take it to mean the opposite.

Martin Milner · Post by **Martin Milner** » Wed Jul 02, 2003 9:27 am

JessieK wrote:A Syn is very loud and a Sindt is very pure. My goodness...can someone tell me the current accepted definition of "chiff" - I take it to mean "breathiness" and some of you seem to take it to mean the opposite.

I've always taken "chiff" to refer to a slight roughness at the start of the note, during the attack, if you will.

I always took breathiness to be a different thing, a general breathiness throughout the notes as characterised by Shaw whistles (and my Dixons and Clarkes).

Kuranes · Post by **Kuranes** » Wed Jul 02, 2003 9:34 am

pthouron wrote:I recently got a "practice D" from Stacey at Alba. It pretty much fits your description. In addition, it was designed to be quieter (hence the "practice"). You can order from Stacey direct (it is not available yet on her website). The whistle is around $50.00, depending on the exchange.

You can see a review and pictures of the whistle at:

http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php ... atty+kathy

P.

I was looking at those -- the practice whistle isn't shown on thier site [edit -- of course not, you just said that], that I can find. Is there a review of thier normal tunable D whistle anywhere?

I'd love to get one, but #65 is a bit too much in canadian $ (would be over $130 here). maybe later